Preamble, PFP Bylaws

The Peace and Freedom Party is an open, multi-tendency, movement-oriented socialist party. We are united in our common commitment to socialism, democracy, feminism and unionism and our common opposition to capitalism, imperialism, racism, sexism and elitism.

These by-laws do not define socialism, nor do they identify the strategies and tactics of how to achieve socialism. We agree that socialism is necessary and that it will open up a democratic decision-making process for appropriate use of resources and distribution of labor.

The Partisan (1994-2009)

The Partisan was the newspaper published by the Peace And Freedom Party State Central Committee and was published regularly from 1994 to 2009.

California’s primary in Election 2020 has been moved well up in the calendar from its more traditional June slot, and this has concomitantly moved up most other key dates and deadlines for candidate filing on the electoral calendar.

Peace and Freedom Party provides below a list of dates that prospective candidates will need to mark on their calendars; stay vigilant because election season is much closer than you may think...

Join the Peace and Freedom Party’s Alameda County chapter for the monthly Suds, Snacks and Socialism forum at theStarry Plough Pub in Berkeley (3101 Shattuck Avenue; click here for map) on Saturday, June 1. All are welcome to discuss the topic of U.S. Imperialism and the Struggle for Venezuela’s Future.

Roger Harris of Task Force on the Americas and Mehmet Bayram, journalist with Sendika.org, will discuss the history of and current situation in Venezuela, a key battleground in the U.S. ruling class’s ongoing war to overthrow independent and left-wing governments worldwide. They will be joined by Gerry Condon, the national president of Veterans for Peace, who was beaten by police while bringing food to the defenders of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. All speakers have recently visited Venezuela.

Doors open at 2pm. The program will start promptly at 2:30pm and will wrap up by 4:30pm, but folks can stay and talk as long for as you like. All ages welcome!

The June forum on U.S. Imperialism and the Struggle for Venezuela’s Future is co-sponsored by the Oakland Greens, the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party and Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change and the Task Force on the Americas. The forum is part of our ongoing Socialist Forum Series on the first Saturday of every month. Our purpose is informed political discussion, and the views expressed are those of the speakers only, not official positions of the Peace and Freedom Party or our fellow co-sponsors.

Our election systems give a guise of democracy but bipartisan election laws, huge amounts of private money, and the corporate media deny representation for a great many of us. The President is not elected by the people of this country. Instead, the president is selected by a majority of an Electoral College which is tilted to favor states which have much smaller numbers of people where each elector represents fewer people.

The Peace and Freedom Party has taken positions for or against 15 bills and one proposed constitutional amendment in the 2019-2020 session of the California legislature; we are currently watching the progression of 13 other bills. Below run the PFP’s current positions on this legislation. For the full text and more information on a bill, click on the given bill’s title.

Additionally, the PFP Legislative Committee has drafted and sent several letters to state senators and assemblypersons detailing the party's support of or opposition to each bill. Each position letter may be accessed individually via the links marked [Position letter] below or click here for a list of all PFP position letters. Last update: May 23, 2019

On behalf of the Peace and Freedom Party of California, John Reiger, State Chair, has signed on to the letter (full text below) from the National Lawyers Guild condemning the attacks on activists who are defending the Venezuelan Embassy.

The Embassy Protection Collective (EPC) was organized five weeks ago by Code Pink, Popular Resistance and the ANSWER Coalition, and has been joined by other organizations including the Black Alliance for Peace and Veterans for Peace. The EPC is defending (rather than "occupying") the Venezuelan Embassy from an illegal takeover and is inside at the invitation of the legitimate government of Venezuela, the elected government headed by Nicolas Maduro.

To see to petition and add your support,click here. Full text of the EPC letter follows.

“The Originals” are indigenous farm workers from Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Chiapas, Mexico, who were forced to migrate north where they worked as campesinos and grew maize, the “original” corn. Because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the inability to compete with corporate agricultural corn growers, who were dumping millions of tons of U.S.-subsidized corn into the Mexican economy, millions of campesinos were forced off the land.

By 1994, Monsanto developed its own chemicals and seeds to ward off pests and introduced them into the Mexican economy. Today, U.S. corn controls the Mexican processing of corn production in Mexico, forcing migration of more than 18 million Mexicans and Central Americans to the U.S. Since the massive deportations began, hundreds of thousands of campesinos deported from the U.S. chose to work in San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico, just five hours from the California-Mexican Border.

Now working with numerous U.S. corporate growers in Baja, Driscoll and Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce are taking advantage of the hundreds of thousands of deported farm workers in San Quintin, paying wages of less than $5 for each 13-hour workday. Although there are federal wage laws regarding overtime, Social Security, medical coverage, vacation pay and sexual abuse, the Mexican federal government refuses to enforce its mandated labor laws.

Some on the left criticize the Peace and Freedom Party for our slogan, “Tax the rich and their corporations.” The goal, they say, should be expropriation of the rich. Socialists can be for both. It is a matter of what the time is ripe for.

Taxing the rich: Socialists and billionaires agreeWhen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested a top tax rate of 70% during a TV interview, she was derided by many in the capitalist class—but not by the ultra-wealthy investor Warren Buffett. Why would a self-described socialist and an unapologetic billionaire agree? Or do they? The following article investigates the divergent reasons why some capitalists and most socialists (including the Peace and Freedom Party) advocate increased taxes on the wealthy.

Capitalism is in crisis worldwide. The owning classes, particularly in the United States, are pursuing policies that are only making it worse. The arguments carried on by their politicians and media all misrepresent, in different ways, the nature of the crisis and of capitalism itself. In response to this crisis, some capitalists (and their representatives) advocate increased taxes on the wealthy – as do many socialists. Why would this be good for the capitalists? Why are most capitalists refusing to take their medicine? And why do we, as socialists, support calls for taxing the rich and their corporations?

The Peace and Freedom Party has announced positions on several bills slated for consideration by the California state legislature during the 2019-2020 sessions; for a current list of PFP’s positions on these bills, please click here.

Additionally, the PFP Legislative Committee has drafted and sent position papers in support or opposition on certain bills. To read any of the PFP letters to our state assemblypersons and senators, just click on the given bill from the list below. This page will be updated as appropriate.

Donate to the Peace and Freedom Party registration drive fund online by clicking the PayPal link above (PayPal membership is not required). Or make checks payable to "PFP Registration Drive" and mail to

PFP Reg DrivePO Box 22234Sacramento CA 95822

PFP on Twitter -- @PeaceAndFreedom

Updates by Email

Subscribe to our email notification service and you will receive one email message each day there is an update to the front page.

RSS Syndication

Social Networks

Voter Registration

In California, voter registration is very important to political parties. The very existence of a political party as "ballot-qualified" is determined by the number of votes its statewide candidates receive or by the number of voters registered with the party. As the only feminist socialist political party on the California ballot, it is imperative that the Peace and Freedom Party continues as a qualified party. Quite simply, the Peace and Freedom Party will not be able to provide Californians with candidates that will represent us unless we register and vote Peace and Freedom.